Monday, May 14, 2012

Spicy Basil Chicken Stir-fry with Sauteed Snow Peas and Peppers

With the amount of Asian cooking I do on a regular basis, it's usually a pretty safe bet that I could look up a stir-fry recipe and have everything I need. Granted, stir-fries are some of the simpler dishes to make, you could basically throw a bunch of meat and vegetables in a skillet, add some soy sauce and call it a day. But this recipe was one of the first I've seen that included chili paste and the end result was slightly spicy, but very flavorful. I paired this with brown rice and a simple sauteed snow pea and pepper side.

Directions:

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add shallots and garlic to pan; cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add chicken to pan; cook 13 minutes or until chicken is done.

Once you've cut the red peppers and snow peas, place in skillet with 1 tsp of sesame oil, cooking for 4-5 minutes, or until crisp. Once done, toss in remainder of sesame oil and salt and pepper, to taste.

Combine fish sauce, sugar, soy sauce, chile paste, water, cornstarch and salt in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add fish sauce mixture to pan, and cook for 1 minute or until mixture thickens, stirring to coat chicken. Remove from heat. Stir in basil.

I served with brown rice mixed with 2 TB of lime juice and 1 TB of sesame seeds. This added a nice bit of bite to the rice.

About Me

I'm a short girl with a big appetite for cooking, entertaining and enjoying every bite! In 2011, I embarked on a New Year's resolution to cook one new recipe each week. 52 weeks later I had an arsenal of recipes to choose from (with only half a dozen or so not worthy of repeating) and decided to start a blog this year to chronicle my cooking endeavors.